Controlling Label Appearance Using Layers

In this exercise, you will use layers to change the color and visibility of labels.
Like other AutoCAD Civil 3D objects, the components that make up a label object may get their color, line
weight, and line type property settings from either the label style or the layer to which the label style refers.
When a label style refers to a specific layer, then any label style components that are set to either ByLayer
or ByBlock will inherit the properties of that specific layer. If the label style refers to layer 0, then any label
style components that are set to either ByLayer or ByBlock will inherit their properties from the layer on
which the label resides.
While a label is an independent Civil 3D object that may be on a separate layer from its parent object, the
label’s visibility is linked to that of its parent object’s layer. Turning off an object’s layer will also hide the
object’s labels, even if they reside on a different layer.
For more information, see the AutoCAD Civil 3D Help topics Managing General Properties for Label Styles and
Managing Layout Properties for Label Styles.
This exercise continues from Exercise 2: Changing Label Appearance (page 14).
To control label appearance with layers
1 Zoom and pan to the area around stations 17+00 and 18+00.
2 Click the station label 18+00 to select all major station labels.
3 Right-click label 18+00 and select Properties.
On the Properties palette, notice that the alignment station labels are on layer C-ROAD, which is the
same layer on which the alignment resides.
4 On the Properties palette, use the Layer list to move the labels to layer C-ROAD-LABL. The labels turn
green.
Exercise 3: Controlling Label Appearance Using Layers | 15
5 At the command line, enter LAYER.
6 In the Layer Properties Manager dialog box, in the C-ROAD row, click in the On column to turn the
C-ROAD layer off. Click OK. The alignment, which is on the C-ROAD layer, is hidden.
7 At the command line, enter REGEN. The station labels are hidden. This happened because, while labels
are independent Civil 3D objects on a separate layer, their visibility is linked to that of their parent
object’s layer, C-ROAD. Turning off an object’s layer will also hide the object’s labels, even if they reside
on a different layer.
8 Repeat steps 5 through 7 to turn on the C-ROAD layer and the station labels.
9 Select label 18+00. On the Properties palette, under Labeling, click the field next to Major Station Label
Style and select Create/Edit.
10 In the Major Station Label Style dialog box, click Edit Current Selection.
In the Label Style Composer dialog box, on the General tab, in the Label category, notice that the style’s
layer is set to 0. When a label style is set to layer 0, if any of the color, line type, and line weight properties
are set to ByLayer or ByBlock, they will inherit the corresponding properties of the layer on which the
label resides.
11 Click the Layout tab.
In the Text category, notice that the Color property for the Major Station component is set to ByLayer.
This means that the major station label text will inherit the color of the layer to which the style refers.
Because the layer style refers to layer 0, the major station label text will inherit the color of the label
object’s layer, which is C-ROAD.
12 In the Component Name list, select Tick.
13 Under Tick, click the Color value (BYLAYER). Click and change the color to blue.
14 Click OK to apply the change and exit the Label Style Composer and Major Station Label Style dialog
boxes.
15 Press Esc to deselect the labels. Notice that while the label text still inherits the green color from the
C-ROAD layer, the ticks are blue.
16 Click Alignments menu ➤ Add Alignment Labels ➤ Single Segment.
17 When prompted to select a segment to label, click the alignment between stations 17+00 and 18+00.
When a label appears on the alignment, press Esc to end the command.
18 Select the new label. On the Properties palette, notice that the label is on layer 0.
When labels are created, they are placed on the layer specified for the label object in the Drawing
Settings dialog box on the Object Layers tab. The drawing settings for Intro-3.dwg specifies that alignment
labels are created on layer 0. For more information, see the AutoCAD Civil 3D Help topic Specifying
Object Layer Settings.
19 On the Properties palette, click the field next to Line Label Style and select Create/Edit.
20 In the Line Label Style dialog box, click Edit Current Selection.
In the Label Style Composer dialog box, on the General tab, in the Label category, notice that the layer
style is set to C-ROAD-LINE-LABL. This means that if any of the color, line type, and line weight
properties are set to ByLayer or ByBlock, they will inherit the corresponding properties of the
C-ROAD-LINE-LABL layer, no matter what layer the label object is on.
21 Click the Layout tab.
16 | Chapter 2 Getting Started Tutorials
22 Use the Component Name list to examine the properties of the various label components. Notice that
all of the components’ Color is set to ByLayer, with the exception of the Direction Arrow component.
The label components that have their Color property set to ByLayer are green because the
C-ROAD-LINE-LABL layer’s color is green. The direction arrow is yellow because its Color property is
set to yellow.
23 Click Cancel to exit the Label Style Composer and Line Label Style dialog boxes.
24 At the command line, enter LAYER.
25 In the Layer Properties Manager dialog box, in the 0 row, click in the On column to turn layer 0 off.
If you receive a message indicating that the current layer will be turned off, click No to turn off layer
0.
26 At the command line, enter REGEN.
The station labels are hidden, but the tangent label you added is not. The station labels were hidden
because their style refers to layer 0, which you turned off. The tangent label is still visible because, while
you turned off the layer it is on, its style components refer to the C-ROAD-LINE-LABL layer, which is
still visible.
Notice that the STA=14+00 and STA=15+00 labels you changed in Exercise 2: Changing Label Appearance
(page 14) are also still visible. This is because the rest of the major station labels use the Standard style,
which refers to layer 0. Labels STA=14+00 and STA=15+00 use the Perpendicular with Tick and Station
Emphasis styles, which refer to the C-ROAD-LABL layer.
27 Repeat steps 24 through 26 to turn on layer 0 and the station labels.